[milkweg]

I bought a pair of satellite speakers and a sub made by Energy recently and noticed the spec sheet said that Energy is a Klipsch owned company. Energy is a Canadian company and has been around for quite some time. When did Klipsch buy Energy and what is the story behind that acquisition?

 

[Professor Thump]

You are correct. Klipsch now owns the API Group.

Klipsch Group, Inc. Acquires Audio Products International

 

[milkweg]

Wow, that's quite some acquisition Klipsch got there. Mirage and Athena are very well respected speaker companies. I'll go so far as to say my Energy RC-1 speakers are better than any Klipsch speakers in the same class.

 

[pegleg]

I can't compare the Energy to the Klipsch, but I love my Energy Veritas 2.1's. I also have 2 Energy C-1's and 2 C-3's just waiting to complete a 5.1 system.

 

[mbriant]

Wow. I didn't know that. Paradigm also sold out a year or two ago, so with the original API gone now as well, (Mirage actually used to be a separate company before API bought them) that pretty much ends the original era of Canadian speaker design. At least their brands and legacy will live on under the even longer-lived Klipsch banner.

In 1981, API was primarily an OEM manufacturer for other companies' designs. They started branding their own product by launching "Sound Dynamics" and buying out Paisley Research and hiring Ian Paisley as their head designer to produce his self-named line of speakers under their banner. They then launched the Energy brand and gained international recognition with their hugely successful "Energy 22" model. Not long after that they introduced a speaker brand called "Image" (pronounced like "Mirage') with some success, but dropped it when they purchased "Mirage". Again, they brought the former owners of that company into their fold as key employees. The "Athena" brand got it's name from the "Athena Project" which was a colaborative research venture into active loudspeakers which included several competing companies and was headed up by Dr. Floyd Toole, then head of Canada's National Research Council's audio division. IIRC, Floyd left the NRC shortly before the project was completed to become VP of Research and Development at Harman international. Howard Heiber, the founder and owner of API was one of shrewdest and toughest clients I ever dealt with, but he was fair and even generous at times. I also had the great pleasure of meeting Paul Klipsch in the early 80's. Where the heck did all those years go?

 

[firefox360]

I've had excellent experiences with API products over the years, products such as Sound Dynamics 300ti's (which were well known for the excellent sonics emanating from rather plain/boring looking boxes), the famous Energy 22.2's (which were wonderful) and now a pair of Energy C-300's.

They're all great speakers, and hopefully the quality doesn't derail from the this acquisition. But I don't think this is the end of the wholly Canadian owned speaker company era (although API was a big player...). I do believe that PSB Speakers is still a Canadian owned company. Totem Acoustics is another Canadian company that produces excellent products and is based out of Montreal, Quebec. There's also various other well known hi-fi manufacturer based in Canada. So I would doubt this is the end.

 

[Professor Thump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow. I didn't know that. Paradigm also sold out a year or two ago, so with the original API gone now as well, (Mirage actually used to be a separate company before API bought them) that pretty much ends the original era of Canadian speaker design. At least their brands and legacy will live on under the even longer-lived Klipsch banner. those years go?

It sounds like you know a lot about API. What was your relationship with them?

You may be interested to know that R & D for the former API group is still done in Canada. So Klipsch is trying to keep the original integrity and feel of the companies. Ian Paisley is still leading that engineering team. Mirage make some beautiful boxes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif In 1981, API was primarily an OEM manufacturer for other companies' designs. They started branding their own product by launching "Sound Dynamics" and buying out Paisley Research and hiring Ian Paisley as their head designer to produce his self-named line of speakers under their banner.

So I believe that Klipsch has made a valuable acquisition and upper managment has done a good job of integrating the companies into Klipsch.

 

[mbriant]

Quote:

It sounds like you know a lot about API. What was your relationship with them?

In 1981 I was the advertising manager, then Associate Publisher of Sound Canada Magazine, which eventually bought out AudioScene Canada. Later I became publisher of Sound & Vision Magazine (Canada) for many years, which at that time was by far the largest circulation A/V publication in the country. I personally sold advertising to API ( and most every other international audio manufacturer/ Canadian distributor) and my former editors Alan Lofft and Ian Masters worked closely with the NRC as well as dealt regularly with the various loudspeaker and electronics manufacturers not only in Canada, but around the world. Dr. Toole was a regular contributing editor for us.

Quote:

You may be interested to know that R & D for the former API group is still done in Canada. So Klipsch is trying to keep the original integrity and feel of the companies. Ian Paisley is still leading that engineering team. Mirage make some beautiful boxes.

That's great news. Ian was/is one of, if not THE most capable and respected loudspeaker designers in Canada. He's been at it a long time now.

Quote:

So I believe that Klipsch has made a valuable acquisition and upper managment has done a good job of integrating the companies into Klipsch.

It certainly sounds like it.

 

[KyPeN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow. I didn't know that. Paradigm also sold out a year or two ago...

To whom? Can you provide some details?

 

[winged creature]

Yea im pretty sure Paradigm is still Canadian, their head office is still in Canada and all the speakers are still made in Canada.

 

[mbriant]

I don't think it's overly polite to get into long discussions about competing brands in a sponsored thread, so to be brief, I forget who. I heard about it word of mouth from a former associate, then read about it in a press release on the net about 2 years ago. A large U.S.- based investment firm bought them IIRC. It wasn't another loudspeaker manufacturer as in API's case. AFAIK, and I may be wrong, one original partner (Scott Bagby) stayed on and the other (Jerry VanderMarel) retired. I'm not sure what Bill, Jerry's brother, who became a shareholder and head of U.S. sales not long after the company formed, is doing. It's been more than a decade since I've seen any of them. So yes, Paradigm still maintains operations in Canada at this time, but it isn't exactly the same company I watched being born in a tiny industrial unit 25 years ago, not that that's a bad thing, just nostalgic to me. I can still remember my first visit to their "new venture" like it was yesterday. Scott and Jerry hooked me up to a machine and gave me a hearing test that day in fact. At that point, the two of them were the entire company. Again, I can't believe how much things have changed and time has flown.

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pegleg /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't compare the Energy to the Klipsch, but I love my Energy Veritas 2.1's. I also have 2 Energy C-1's and 2 C-3's just waiting to complete a 5.1 system.

You should hear the Energy RC-1's. Most revealing little speaker I have ever heard. Maybe too revealing for some.

 

[milkweg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by winged creature /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yea im pretty sure Paradigm is still Canadian, their head office is still in Canada and all the speakers are still made in Canada.

Well, so are Energy I believe but they are a subsidiary of Klipsch now. More research funds could mean even better speakers from these companies.

 

[Lugann]

Good for Klipsch but why? I've enjoyed Klipsch speakers for years now but have always planned to buy a superior set of (Home Made) Paradigm. I'm just pissed that once again, a larger and not necessarily better producer, manufacturer and so on, had to get their hands on the better toy in the playroom or at least make damn sure they had control.

Ever since John Diefenbaker and the Avro Arrow project, Canadian Leaders and Business have been okay with taking the back seat or giving it up for the big guy...losers.

 

[Amy]

Klipsch Group Inc, which is a holding company, has acquired Energy, Mirage (Canada) and Jamo (Denmark) brands over the past few years to diversity their product offerings and to widen their presence in the world market-- not to dominate the "competition."

These 4 separate brands (Klipsch Audio included) will continue to have their own identity and appeal to different types of consumers.